Advantages And Disadvantages of Hybrid Cars
Hybrid cars are the cars of the future. It is really able to save fuel and produces at the same time, low toxic fumes. As a result of these advantages will be hybrid cars becoming more popular every day now. Many people now is to get rid of their cars and buy a hybrid car, taking into account, in order to reduce the costs of fuel consumption.
Hybrid cars have two engines to real savings in fuel consumption. It has a traditional gasoline engine and also has an electric motor and batteries. The two engines are working together to reduce fuel consumption. This technique is able to reduce the consumption of more than half. Imagine a hybrid car, which I can, more than 60 miles per gallon. Hybrid cars are the cars of the future with this type of savings in each case.
Hybrid car owners feeling not nearly rising prices on fuel costs. This is the main advantage of hybrid car. There are other benefits, hybrid vehicles can give you. The President of the United States has recently reached an agreement that hybrid can enjoy car buyer incentives. This means that you can control a hybrid car; you can save money by having.
There are other benefits to owners of Government in hybrid cars, including free parking and free pool lanes access. Some have also reduced toll rates.
Performance hybrid cars are configured so that it publishes the energy and fuel used in hybrid cars. This means that unlike cars, hybrid cars are not really necessary is taken home.
With all the benefits that a hybrid car, you can, there are also disadvantages. The main disadvantage of hybrid cars is that the selling price is quite expensive. Only people who have enough money to buy hybrid cars. Twist in all this, however, is actually more affordable hybrid cars compared with conventional cars. If the estimated total two vehicles with fuel consumption, is that you can actually save more money in hybrid cars.
Only thing is that the more expensive car had turned off hybrid cars right.
Hybrid cars are relatively heavy installed due to the heavy car batteries. It integrates the internal combustion engine manufacturers of hybrid cars, thus smaller and it is constructed with lightweight materials, aerodynamics and for maximum productivity. This means never quite quickly by hybrid cars.
Another problem of hybrid cars is very risky. What makes a hybrid car work effectively does what is also risky, if ever becomes involved in an accident. This is to maintain a high level of tension in hybrid car batteries. This means that a high probability is conserved by electric shock when he is involved in an accident. It also means that it is relatively difficult for perpetrators, occupants of hybrid cars because of the dangers of high voltage in the car.
These are the advantages and disadvantages of hybrid cars. Disadvantages of the manufacturers of hybrid cars today are looking for ways to get rid of. “in the near future, you will see that hybrid cars are easier and with less risk because of the risks of high voltage.
Semi Trucks For Sale
The online trucking world has bought a great benefit for small time dealers dealing in semi trucks as you can buy and sell your business online without visiting any places. There are thousands of used trucks for sale online over the Internet and hundreds are traded each day. The semi trucks for sale have great demand because they are used in varied industries; some small-scale industries rent them for a temporary period of time while some bigger companies buy new semi trucks. There are number of resources online today that offers dozens of trucks and trailers but not all of them are reliable and give the best information on trucks. The best way to find reliable resource is talking to their representatives and visiting the company outlet and looking over at each of the trucks.
The most reliable resource would never hesitate to welcome you to look over at their collection of trucks and trailers. The demand for used trucks for sale is growing as people are looking to cut down the cost and also that they can further resell it and buy a new used truck. Some business requirements keep changing over the time and so the best options is to rent the trucks for a temporary period of buy used trucks that cost less. The online resources have varied categories of trucks, you have to select the best that suits your needs, the customized search options over the site helps you to search the best semi trucks you might be looking for. The online automotive resources is a common hub where you can trade easy exchange of used trucks for sale and also the semi trucks for sale, they offer unlimited bargains and free accessories in some of the trucks.
Check out the best resources to find the trucks that suit your requirements and needs. Create your account with the big automotive portals and start trading in trucks or any type of business machinery or farm equipments. You can specify the year of manufacture, the make, the color, the engine and the body of the truck to find the best truck you might be looking for and if you are still confused you can talk to their online representatives and specify them your business needs and they would be the best person to suggest the semi trucks you need.
Streamium – China Tools To Unlock Car Doors – Auto Lockout Tools
History
In 2000 Philips’ consumer electronics division (business unit Audio) outlined an ambitious Internet strategy that was remarkably well executed initially: The Streamium brand was invented as well as a “Connected Home” vision. A sizeable number of products was announced, demonstrated at the Consumer Electronics Show (in Las Vegas, USA) and brought to market in the period between January 2000 and June 2003. In 2003 the “Connected Home” vision would be broadened to embrace the planet in the “Connected Planet” effort. This latest move was accompanied by an attempt to steer product development and industrialization from Eindhoven and to include other business units. Unfortunately, the “Connected Planet” withered, leaving a limited product portfolio of Streamiums.
Products
The FW-i1000, an audio mini-system including a CD-changer and AM/FM radio, and considered to be the precursor to the Streamium product line, first shipped in June 2001. It had been in development by Philips’ audio business group in Sunnyvale (CA, USA) since May 2000. At the January 2001 Consumer Electronics Show they announced and demonstrated the first integrated audio device connecting to “over a thousand internet radio stations”.
The FW-i1000 was rapidly followed by a slew of other IP-enabled devices. The marketing name “Streamium” and the slogan “Don’t dream it, stream-it” was coined and globally registered by Ramon de la Fuente (now at Sonos) who replaced Tony Cher as a product manager in 2001.
January 2001
FW-i1000, with iM-networks service offered by Sonicbox, an aggregator of Internet radio service. A limited number of UPnP compliant prototypes where also made for use in the testing of the UPnP AV specifications.
January 2002
The MCi200, with Philips back-end, several internet based services (and my.philips.com user interface extension protected by a number of patents)
The iPronto, with WiFi/UPnP, links to security camera and offering a web-based electronic program guide a.k.a. EPG.
January 2003
The MCi250, an upgrade to the MCi200 with WiFi and UPnP-compliant
Announced at the same event:
The SL300i and SL400i wireless multi-media adapters
The MX6000i, with WiFi/UPnP, video, pictures and photo service, music services, 5 DVD changer
The Streamium-TV, a 32″ LCD TV offering similar web-based services as the MX6000i
Both the Streamium-TV and MX6000i were capable of offering video content hosted by a web-based service.
August 2004
The SL50i wireless PC audio receiver.
September 2004
The SLA5500 wireless multi-media adapter, to connect to both a PC and an audio system.
September 2005
The SLA5520 wireless music receiver, the successor of the SLA5500 with access to free Internet radio stations.
June 2006
WAK700 wireless multiroom music system, with a 40GB hard disk drive to store up to 750 CDs and 3 different ways to listen to music (Listen to different song in each room, take the music from room to room, Simultaneous playback on all stations)
The WAK3300 wireless music station, with 3 ways to listen to music and 3 different alarm modes.
January 2007
The WACS7000 wireless multiroom music system, the successor of the WACS700, with a 80GB hard disk drive to store up to 1500 CDs.
June 2007
The SLM5500 and SLM5520 wireless multimedia adapters, to stream music from PC as the other Streamium devices but also to view pictures and movies stored on your computer on your TV.
January 2008
The WACS7500 mutliroom music system, the successor of the WACS7500 with color display and access to free Internet radio stations.
April 2008
The WAS6050 wireless music station, with 4 built-in speakers, and access to free Internet Radio stations.
June 2008
The NP1100 network music player, to connect to both a PC and an audio system, with wireless access to Internet radio and online music services such as Rhapsody (online music service) or Napster.
August 2008
The MCI300 wireless micro hifi system
The MCI500H wireless micro hifi system, with a 160GB hard disk drive to store up to 2000 CDs.
November 2008
The NP2500 network music player, following the same principles as the NP1100 but with color display, the FullSound technology to restore the details in compressed music, and picture streaming
The NP2900 network music player, with 4 built-in speakers (no need to connect to an audio system), the LivingSound technology to enjoy immersive music over a wider area and picture streaming.
Architecture
Whereas the FW-i1000 used the iM-networks service (then known as “SonicBox”), the end-to-end “Streamium” system designed by Daniel Meirsman, included a Philips owned back-end service (the “ECD-interface”).
This back-end service allowed Streamium devices to connect to “any number” of web based content delivery services. The back-end would thereby function as a “switch-board” connecting the content delivery services with individual boxes. Moreover, the back-end service would allow Philips to build out an “after-sales” relationship with their customers through the web-based [UI]-extension and would stimulate some early form of web-based social networking with the streamium cafe web site that was set up by Mark Tuttle.
A navigation tree would be served to the Streamium-device from the Philips back-end, whereas the content itself would be directly streamed from the service to the Streamium-box subject to the site’s policy (subject to the compulsory licences…). By manipulating the navigation tree from the front panel of the Streamium-device users could select desired the service, genre, artist, album, track…
From the start, Streamium-devices contained provisions (i.e. an IEEE EUI-64 containing an OUI and a MAC-address, encryption keys, product and software version codes) used to protect streams and support identification mechanisms, as well as allowing downloading of software upgrades (for bug-fixes as well as enabling new features).
In most cases. Streamium functionality was provided by a module (a [PCB]) based on an NXP TriMedia PNX1300. This module implemented:
1. Connectivity to the home network as well as to the Internet (network stack, SAX as opposed to DOM XML-parser, UPnP-stack)
2. Decoding of compressed (audio, image, video) content
A user interface extension was available on the Streamium web-site (my.philips.com) that would allow users to manage their preferences, services and devices.
On the frontpanel or through the on-screen display (OSD) of the Streamium devices, users could mark their favorites or indicate they wanted to learn more about the song being played. The service would then send either an e-mail with more details, or post this info on my.philips.com with a click-through link (i.e. to Amazon.com for purchasing).
Technology Concepts
Under the direction of the Streamium team, Philips CE contributed significantly to both UPnP and Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) and other industry efforts.
The Streamiums were extensively used to build advanced concepts, even at other divisions of Philips such as Philips Semiconductors (now NXP), Philips Research and Philips Medical.
Philips Semiconductors would pick up on the vision of Philips Consumer Electronics and task the “advanced system lab” to prototype this vision (first demos end 2004).
Concepts (such as those used in the Connected Home demos) would then be shown by the Streamium team in the “Philips-CE World Tour”, an invitation only event at the yearly consumer Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas to a selected audience.
Demonstration of a portable HDD-based and Wi-Fi enabled UPnP renderer (January 2002) for studies of portable entertainment.
Demonstration of a fully-fledged UPnP enabled network (January 2003) with multiple renderers, servers and control points
Bridging between UPnP and Zigbee was demonstrated to control lighting from a UPnP control point as well as a GPRS link that bridged to the UPnP network through a web server (January 2003), linking digital entertainment to home automation and “ambiance control”.
Use cases illustrating the use of RFID in interactive marketing, identification and personalisation (January 2003).
Tests with the Rhapsody as a UPnP AV-server streaming to an MCi200 (a bit what Sonos is currently offering) (2003).
Running tests of Apple’s Rendezvous protocol on the MCi200 (2003).
The first demonstration of the NFC smart poster concept with Visa (January 2004).
Use cases illustrating interoperable DRM (Streamium was one of the devices used to demonstrate the principles underlying the activities of the Coral consortium (January 2004).
Use cases illustrating the use of recommender technology (January 2004)
Demonstration (~43 use cases) of a fully connected home including stationary as well as portable devices and mobile phones and executed at the “CES2005 World Tour” by a team of professional actors. (January 2005)
Use cases in the area of fitness and well-being (January 2005)
Use cases illustrating uses for UPnP printing (January 2005).
Experiments with Java-based arcade games
Services
iM-networks was offered on the FW-i1000 from the start.
The Philips Streamium MX6000i provided traditional home entertainment alongside access to audio-video content from a PC, UPnP mediaserver or online entertainment service. Services included music videos, Web movies, and cinema trailers.
The Philips Streamium service partners were:
Yahoo LAUNCHcast
Yahoo! Movies – trailers only
MP3.com
Musicmatch Musicmatch Jukebox, Radio MX
live365.com
Radio Free Virgin
Playhouse Radio
Andante
Bluebeat
iFilm – previews and short movies
Launch – music videos
There was no need to first download files to PC, or even to turn the PC on, to stream multimedia Internet content. (A broadband Internet connection is required.)
A wide array of Yahoo! services including on-demand music videos, movie trailers and clips and photo services was launched together with the Streamium range extension in Spring 2004.
Out of the box consumers would have access to free services. Additionally, a number of services would offer premium (subscription-based) online services allowing consumers to broaden and personalize their home entertainment experience.
An early Web2.0 device?
In his press conference during the CES2001, Guy Demuynck, then CEO of Philips CE, expressed his vision that the Internet would become as ubiquitous and accessible as the electric grid to devices other than the PC, and that people would increasingly rely on the Internet for information and entertainment.
“The Internet has transformed the way we do business,” Demuynck stated, referring not only to communications and promotions but to product design as well. “We intend to put Internet capabilities into many products, making Internet content as accessible as pressing a single button on a TV remote. The Internet dominates all our thinkingt will expand from a browsing activity to an always-on, integral part of daily life,” he said.
Innovative
What made the early Internet audio and Streamium devices stand apart from the rest was not only the bold choice for broadband Internet connectivity, but also the fact that Philips provided a back-end service, essentially aggregating an interesting services offering to its users. In addition, a UI extension was offered (my.philips) that allowed consumers to manage their devices, external service subscriptions, favorites, as well as to add their own streams. The PC-based UI extension was part of the lean-forward/lean-backward approach to this potentially complicated product range:
Lean backward functionality was accessible on the device directly
Lean forward functionality was relegated to the PC
In essence, the Philips service offering was a walled garden; but the fact that consumers could add and access their own favorite streams made it more of an open system. Although never published, Streamium relied on an XML-based API –not unlike the APIs we see today published by Web-service providers (YouTube, eBay,…) — and implemented XML-based APIs as offered by its service providers.
Commercial impact
Unfortunately the first Streamium generations lacked support for a number of important media formats such as those included in the Windows Media technologies which hampered their commercial success. Philips’ legal team had issues with the non-assertion clause that Microsoft required potential licensees to sign without prior opportunity to check the IP involved. Since Philips did and still does own a substantial patent-portfolio, product management was not allowed to risk signing away rights on a substantial number of important patents.
Consumer testing
To some extent consumers were involved in some of the design of the Streamiums. Of course, the classical focus test groups were used to find out what features consumers would deem important. But also after the official announcement, a limited number of pre-production versions of the Streamiums would be made available to a limited number of volunteer beta-testers that could sign up via a Philips web-site.
References
^ The Simplecenter Story
^ Visa Philips smart poster announcement
^ MX6000i functionality
^ Playhouse Radio web-site
^ Andante web-site
^ Bluebeat web-site
^ Philips Yahoo Streamium-service announcement
^ Services description
^ report from the 2001 CES Philips press conference
^ Non-assert clauses
^ Philips patent portfolio
^ Patent infringement?
^ Beta-testing
See also
Digital media receiver another name for Wireless Media Adapter
SimpleCenter a UPnP AV MediaServer
External links
Streamium website
Streamium blog
Streamium user forum
Categories: Philips | Wireless networking | Internet audio players
F1 Cars
INTRODUCTION
Car racing is one of the most technologically advanced sports in the world today. Race Cars are the most sophisticated vehicles that we see in common use. It features exotic, high-speed, open-wheel cars racing all around the world. The racing teams have to create cars that are flexible enough to run under all conditions. This level of diversity makes a season of F1 car racing incredibly exciting. The teams have to completely revise the aerodynamic package, the suspension settings, and lots of other parameters on their cars for each race, and the drivers have to be extremely agile to handle all of the different conditions they face. Their carbon fiber bodies, incredible engines, advanced aerodynamics and intelligent electronics make each car a high-speed research lab. A F1 Car runs at speeds up to 240 mph, the driver experiences G-forces and copes with incoming data so quickly that it makes Car driving one of the most demanding professions in the sporting world. F1 car is an amazing machine that pushes the physical limitations of automotive engineering. On the track, the driver shows off his professional skills by directing around an oval track at speeds
GENERAL COCKPIT ENVIRONMENT
Every possible button and switch must be close at hand as the driver has limited movement due to tightness of the seat belts. The cockpit is also very cramped, and drivers often wear knee pads to prevent bruising. The car designers are forever trying to lower the centre of gravity of the car, and as each car has a mass of 600 Kg, with the driver’s being roughly 70 Kg, he is an important factor in weight distribution. This often means that the drivers are almost lying down in their driving position. The trend towards high noses led one driver to comment that his driving position felt like he was lying in the bath with his feet up on the taps!
As the driver sits so low, his forward visibility is often impaired. Some of the shorter drivers can only see the tops of the front tyres and so positioning his car on the grid accurately can be a problem. You may see a mechanic holding his hand where the top of the front tyre should stop during a pit-stop to help the driver stop on his correct mark. Rear view mirrors are angled to see through the rear wing and drivers often like to set them so that they can just see the rear wheel.
Around the drivers head there is a removable headrest / collar. This was introduced in an attempt to protect the driver’s neck in a sideways collision. Some driver’s also wear knee pads to prevent their knees banging together during hard cornering.
Aerodynamics
One of the most important features of a formula1 Car is its aerodynamics package. The most obvious manifestations of the package are the front and rear wings, but there are a number of other features that perform different functions. A formula 1 Car uses air in three different ways introduction of wings. Formula One team began to experiment with crude aerodynamic devices to help push the tires into the track.
WINGTHEORY
The wings on an F1 car use the same principle as those found on a common aircraft, although while the aircraft wings are designed to produce lift, wings on an F1 car are placed ‘upside down’, producing downforce, pushing the car onto the track. The basic way that an aircraft wing works is by having the upper surface a different shape to the lower. This difference causes the air to flow quicker over the top surface than the bottom, causing a difference in air pressure between the two surfaces. The air on the upper surface will be at a lower pressure than the air below the wing, resulting in a force pushing the wing upwards. This force is called lift. On a racing car, the wing is shaped so the low pressure area is under the wing, causing a force to push the wing downwards. This force is called downforce.
As air flows over the wing, it is disturbed by the shape, causing what is known as form or pressure drag. Although this force is usually less than the lift or downforce, it can seriously limit top speed and causes the engine to use more fuel to get the car through the air. Drag is a very important factor on an F1 car, with all parts exposed to the air flow being streamlined in some way. The suspension arms are a good example, as they are often made in a shape of a wing, although the upper surface is identical to the lower surface. This is done to reduce the drag on the suspension arms as the car travels through the air at high speed.
The reason that the lower suspension arm has much less drag is due to the aspect ratio. The circular arm will suffer from flow separation around the suspension arm, causing a higher pressure difference in front of and behind the arm, which increases the pressure drag. This occurs because the airflow has to turn sharply around the cylindrical arm, but it cannot maintain a path close to the arm due to the speed of the flow, causing a low pressure wake to form behind it. The lower suspension arm in the diagram will cause no flow separation as the aspect ration between the width and the height is much greater, and the flow can maintain the smooth path around the object, creating a smaller pressure difference between the air in front of the arm and the air behind. In the bottom case, the skin friction drag will increase, but this is a minor increase compared with the pressure drag.
REARWING
As more wing angle creates more downforce, more drag is produced, reducing the top speed of the car. The rear wing is made up of two sets of aerofoil connected to each other by the wing endplates. The top aerofoil top provides most of the downforce and is the one that is varied the most from track to track. It is now made up of a maximum of three elements due to the new regulations. The lower aerofoil is smaller and is made up of just one element. As well as creating downforce itself, the low pressure region immediately below the wing helps suck air through the diffuser, gaining more downforce under the car. The endplates connect the two wings and prevent air from spilling over the sides of the wings, maximizing the high pressure zone above the wing, creating maximum downforce.
FRONTWING
Wing flap on either side of the nose cone is asymmetrical. It reduces in height nearer to the nose cone as this allows air to flow into the radiators and to the under floor aerodynamic aids. If the wing flap maintained its height right to the nose cone, the radiators would receive less air flow and therefore the engine temperature would rise. The asymmetrical shape also allows a better airflow to the under floor and the diffuser, increasing downforce. The wing main plane is often raised slightly in the centre, this again allows a slightly better airflow to the under floor aerodynamics, but it also reduces the wing’s ride height sensitivity. A wing’s height off the ground is very critical, and this slight raise in the centre of the main plane makes react it more subtlety to changes in ride height. The new- regulations state that the outer thirds of the front wing must be raised by 50mm, reducing downforce. Some teams have lowered the central section to try to get some extra front downforce, at the compromise of reducing the quality of the airflow to the underbody aerodynamics.
As the wheels were closer to the chassis, the front wings overlapped the front wheels when viewed from the front. This provided unnecessary turbulence in front of the wheels, further reducing aerodynamic efficiency and thus contributing to unwanted drag. To overcome this problem, the top teams made the inside edges of the front wing endplates curved to direct the air towards the chassis and around the wheels. Later on and throughout the season, many teams introduced sculpted outside edges to the endplates to direct the air around the front wheels. This was often included in the design change some teams introduced to reduce the width of the front wing to give the wheels the same position relative to the wing in previous years.
The interaction between the front wheels and the front wing makes it very difficult to come up with the best solution, and consequently almost all of the different teams have come up with different designs! The horizontal lips in the middle of the endplate help force air around the tyres, whilst the lip at the bottom of the plate helps stop any high pressure air entering the low pressure zone beneath the wing, as it is the low pressure here which creates the downforce.
BARGEBOARDS
They are mounted between the front wheels and the side pods, but can be situated in the suspension, behind the front wheels. Their main purpose is to smooth the turbulent airflow coming from the front wheels, and direct some of this flow into the radiators, and the rest around the side of the side pods.
They have become much more three dimensional in their design, and feature contours to direct the airflow in different directions. Although the bargeboards help tidy the airflow around the side pods, they may also reduce the volume of air entering the radiators, so reaching a compromise between downforce and cooling is important.
DIFFUSER
Invisible to the spectator other than during some kind of major accident, the diffuser is the most important area of aerodynamic consideration. This is the underside of the car behind the rear axle line. Here, the floor sweeps up towards the rear of the car, creating a larger area of the air flowing under the car to fill. This creates a suction effect on the rear of the car and so pulls the car down onto the track.
The diffuser consists of many tunnels and splitters which carefully control the airflow to maximize this suction effect. As the exhaust gases from the engine and the rear suspension arms pass through this area, its design is critical. If the exhaust gases are wrongly placed, the car has changed its aerodynamic balance when the driver comes on and off the throttle. Some teams have moved the exhausts so that they exit from the engine cover instead to make the car more stable when the driver comes on and off the throttle. The picture aboveshows what the complex arrangement of tunnels look like at the back of the car:
Engine
With ten times the horse-power of a normal road car, a Formula On engine produces quite amazing performance. With around 900 moving parts, the engines are very complex and must operate at very high temperatures. Engines are currently limited to 3 litre, normally aspirated with 10 cylinders. These engines produce approximately 900 – 850 bhp and are made from forged aluminum alloy, and they must have no more than five valves per cylinder. In a quest to reduce the internal inertia of the moving parts, some components have been manufactured from ceramics. These materials are very strong in the direction they need to be, but have a very low density meaning that it takes less force to accelerate them, ideal for reducing the fuel consumption and efficiency of the engine. A similar material, beryllium alloy has been used, but the safety of it has been questioned.
WHAT MAKES THESE ENGINES DIFFERENT TO ROAD CAR ENGINES?
You can often see road cars with engines larger than three liters, but these don’t produce upwards of 750 bhp. So how do F1 engineers produce this amount of power from this size of engine? There are many differences between racing and road car engines that contribute to the large power difference.
F1 engines are designed to rev much higher than road units. Having double the revs should double the power output as there are twice as many engine cycles within a certain time. Unfortunately, as the revs increase, so doe’s friction within the engine, so eventually, a point is reached where maximum power will occur, regardless of the number of revs. Running engines at high revs also increases the probability of mechanical failure as the components within the engines are being more highly stressed.
Exotic materials such as ceramics as mentioned earlier are employed to reduce the weight and strength of the engine. A limit of what materials can be used has been introduced to keep costs down, so only metal based (ferrous) materials can be used for the crankshaft and cams. Exotic materials can reduce the weight, and are often less susceptible to expansion with heat, but there can be draw backs. Incorporating these materials next to ferrous materials can cause problems. An exotic material such as carbon fibre will not expand as much as steel for example, so having these together in an engine would ruin the engine, as they run to such small tolerances. Although only 5% of the engine is built of such materials (compared with roughly 1/3 rd Steel, 2/3 rds Aluminum) they still make a worthwhile addition to power output.
Transmissions
Just like in your family road car, F1 cars have a clutch, gearbox and differential to transfer the 800 bhp into the rear wheels. Although they provide the same function as on a road car, the transmission system in an f1 car is radically different.
CLUTCH
The engine is linked directly to the clutch, fixed between the engine and gearbox. Some manufacturers produce Carbon/Carbon F1 clutches which must be able to tolerate temperatures as high as 500 degrees. The clutch is electro-hydraulically operated and can weigh as little as 1.5 kg.
They are multi-plate designs that are designed to give enhanced engine pick-up and the lightweight deigns mean that they have low inertia, allowing faster gear changes. The drivers do not manually use the clutch apart from moving off from standstill, and when changing up the gears, they simply press a lever behind the wheel to move to the next ratio. The on-board computer automatically cuts the engine, depresses the clutch and switches ratios in the blink of an eye. In F1 cars, clutches are 100 mm in diameter.
GEAR BOX
F1 car gearboxes are different to road car gearboxes in that they are semi-automatic and have no synchromesh. They are sequential which means they operate much like a motorcycle gearbox, with the gears being changed by a
DIFFERENTIAL
To enable the rear wheels to rotate at different speeds around a corner, F1 cars use differentials much like any other forms of motorized vehicle. Formula One cars use limited-slip differentials to help maximize the traction out of corners, compared to open differentials used in most family cars. The open differential theoretically delivers equal torque to both drive wheels at all times, whereas a limited slip device uses friction to change the torque relationship between the drive wheels.
Electro-hydraulic devices are used in F1 to constantly change the torque acting on both of the drive wheels at different stages in a corner. This torque relationship can be varied to ‘steer’ the car through corners, or prevent the inside rear wheel from spinning under harsh acceleration out of a bend.
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Tyres & Wheels
TYRES
F1 tyres must be able to withstand very high stresses and temperatures, the normal working temperature at the contact patch is around 125 degrees Celsius, and the tyre will rotate at about 3000 rpm at top speed. The tyres are filled with a special nitrogen rich, moisture free gas to make sure the pressure will not alter depending on where it was inflated. The tyres are made up of four essential ‘ingredients’: carbon blacks, polymers, oils and special curatives. During a race weekend, the teams can choose between two compounds of dry tyres to use during qualifying and the race. Normally, a hard and a softer compound tyre will be brought to the track, with the teams deciding before qualifying which compound to use for the rest of the weekend. The softer tyre will give a bit more grip, but will wear and blister more quickly than the hard tyre.
The picture below shows the three types of tyres that can be used.. The dry tyre has four circumferential grooves to reduce the ‘contact patch’ that decreases cornering speeds. The wet tyre can only be used when the track is declared officially ‘wet’ by the Stewards of the race. This tyre type must have a ‘land’ area of 75% (the area that touches the track) whilst the channels to remove the water must make up the remaining 25% of the tyre area. The intermediate tyre is used during changeable conditions when it is still slightly damp. If a wet tyre is used when the track is not actually very wet, the tread overheats, losing grip. An intermediate choice channels out water without overheating as much as a wet tyre.
Tyres are of paramount importance on a racing car as they are the sole suppliers of grip. Each tyre has about the area of an adults palm touching the ground, (this area is called the contact patch) and this area must be maximized by the suspension to create as much grip as possible. The set-up of the car’s suspension is designed to maximize the contact patch during cornering, acceleration and braking. Although there are some variables involved with the tyres, most of the factors that control the behavior of the contact patch are induced by the suspension set-up.
The pressure of the tyres is a critical factor in the car’s performance. As well as determining the amount of lateral movement of the tyre, the pressures are critical to the movement of the suspension. As the tyre walls are so large, about half of the vertical movement of the car comes from the squashing of the tyre walls, with the rest in the springs or torsion bars in the suspension.
Current F1 tyres must have four grooves around them to comply with the rules which were issued as a way on controlling the cornering speed of the cars. The picture above shows the dimensions of the grooves:
WHEELS
F1 wheels are usually made from forged magnesium alloy due its low density and high strength. They are machined in one piece to make them as strong as possible, and are secured onto the suspension uprights by a single central locking wheel nut. This ‘lock’ is quickly pushed in to release the wheel during a pit stop, and the tyre changer then pulls it again to lock the wheel once the tyres have been changed.
. Once at the track, teams deliver their bare wheel rims to the tyre manufacturers’ truck where the tyres are put onto the rims with special machines. The tyres are then inflated and delivered back to the teams.
WHEEL TETHERS
F1 cars have had to fit wheel tethers connecting the wheels to the chassis. This rule was introduced to try to stop wheels coming free and bouncing around dangerously during an accident. The tether must attach to the chassis at one end, with the other end connecting to the wheel hub.
The tethers used in F1 are a derivative of high performance marine ropes, made especially for each car. They are made from a special polymer called polybenzoaoxide (PBO) which is often called Zylon. This Zylon material has a very high strength and stiffness characteristic (around 280GPa) much like carbon, but the advantage of Zylon is that it can be used as a pure fibre unlike carbon which has to be in composite form to gain its strength. The drawback of Zylon is that is must be protected from light, so it is covered in a shrink wrapped protective cover. The tethers are designed to withstand about 5000 kg of load, but often they can break quite easily during an accident, especially if the cable gets twisted by the broken suspension members. The teams normally replace the tethers every two or three races to ensure that they can withstand the loads put on them during an accident.
The Suspensions
The setup of a cars suspension has a great influence on how it handles on the track, whether it produces under steer, over steer or the more useful neutral balance of a car. On an F1 car, the suspension must be soft enough to absorb the many undulations and bumps that a track may possess, including the riding of some vicious yet time-saving curbs. On the other hand, the suspension should be sufficiently hard so that the car does not bottom out when traveling at 200 mph with about 3 tons of downforce acting on it.
Most of the team’s suspension systems are similar, but they take two forms. The first is the traditional coil spring setup, common in most modern cars. The second is the torsion bar setup. A torsion bar does the same job as a spring but is more compact. Both forms of suspension are mounted on the chassis above the driver’s legs at the front of the car, and on top of the gearbox at the rear. The pictures below left show the typical suspension setup and the spring and a torsion bar:
A bump is absorbed by the spring compressing, and then contracting. A Torsion bar absorbs a bump by twisting one way, then twisting back.
SPRINGS & TORSION BARS
The springs or torsion bars are the parts of the suspension that actually absorb the bumps. In simple terms, the softer the suspension on the car, the quicker it will travel through a corner. This has the adverse effect of making the car less sensitive to the drivers input, causing sloppy handling. A harder sprung car will have less mechanical grip through the corner, but the handling will be more sensitive and more direct.
To gain more grip, the engineers cannot simply soften the springs all round. This may increase grip up to a point, but there are many adverse effects that will occur. Firstly, the car may bottom out when under the influence of aerodynamic load when traveling at high speed. Secondly, the car will suffer body-roll in the corners which will influence the angle of the tyres with the road, reducing overall grip. The final point is that the car will pitch forwards and backwards under the influence of hard acceleration or braking. This effect the cars aerodynamics, especially the grip obtained from the airflow under the car.
DAMPERS
Often called shocks absorbers, dampers provide a resistance for the spring to work against. The purpose of this is to prevent the spring from oscillating too much after hitting a bump. Ideally, the spring would contract over a bump, and then expand back to its usual length straight afterwards.
This requires a damper to be present as without one the spring would contracted expand continually after the bump, providing a rather horrible ride The way that dampers operate can be tuned to alter the handling. The ‘bump’ and ‘rebound’ characteristics can be altered to control how quickly they contract and expand again.
THE BRAKES
F1 cars use disc brakes like most road cars, but these brakes are designed to work at 750 degrees C and are discarded after each race. The driver needs the car to be stable under heavy braking, and is able to adjust the balance between front and rear braking force from a dial in the cockpit. The brakes are usually set-up with 60% of the braking force to the front, 40% to the rear. This is because as the driver hits the brakes, the whole weight of the car is shifted towards the front, and the rear seems to get lighter. If the braking force was kept at 50% front and rear, the rear brakes would lock up as there would be less force pushing the rear tyres onto the track under heavy braking.
For qualifying, when longevity of the brake discs is not important, teams often run thinner discs to reduce the weight of the car. Race discs are 28 mm thick (the maximum allowed) where the special qualifying discs are often as thin as 21 mm. Teams often run either very small or in some cases no front brake ducts during qualifying to gain an aerodynamic advantage
The rotating discs are gripped by a caliper which squeezes the disc when the brake pedal is pushed. Brake fluid is pushed into pistons within the caliper which push the brake pads towards the disc and pushes against it it slow the wheel. The discs are often drilled so that air will flow through and keep the temperature down.
These master cylinders contain the brake fluid for both the front and rear brakes. The front and rear systems are connected separately so if one circuit would fail, the driver would still have either the front or rear system with which to slow the car. Also visible is the steering rack and the plumbing for the power steering system.
Costs
HOW MUCH DOES AN F1 CAR COST TO MAKE?
This is one of the most commonly asked questions by spectators and this section will try to get an overall total to design and build one Formula 1 car. The table below outlines the main parts of the car and how much each part costs:
Each part costs:
PARTS AMOUNT SINGLE PRICE (€) AMOUNT NEEDED TOTAL (€)
Monocoque 112 360 1 112.360
Bodywork 8026 1 8.026
Rear Wing 12842 1 12.842
Front Wing 16051 1 16.051
Engine 240770 1 240.770
Gearbox 128411 1 128.411
Gear Ratios (set) 112360 1 112.360
Exhaust System 9631 1 9.631
Telemetry 128411 1 128.411
Fire Extinguisher 3210 2 6.420
Brake Discs 964 4 3.856
Brake Pads 642 8 5.136
Brake Callipers 16051 4 64.205
Wheels 1124 4 4.496
Tyres 642 4 2.568
Shock Absorber 2087 4 8.346
Pedals (set) 1605 1 1.605
Dashboard 3210 1 3.210
Steering System 4815 1 4.815
Steering Wheel 32103 1 32.103
Fuel Tank 9632 1 9.632
Suspension 3210 1 3.210
Wiring 8026 1 8.026
GRAND TOTAL € 926.490
In addition to the build costs, thousands of pounds will be spent on designing the car. Design costs include the making of models, using the wind tunnel and paying crash test expenses etc. The cost of producing the final product will be €7.700.000
RANDOM FACTS:
In an F1 engine revving at 18,000 rpm, the piston will travel up and down 300 times a second.
The piston only moves around 50 mm but will accelerate from 0 – 100 kmh and back to 0 again in around 0.0025 seconds.
If a connecting rod let go of its piston at maximum engine speed, the piston would have enough energy to travel vertically over 100 meters.
If a water hose were to blow off, the complete cooling system would empty in just over a second.
F1 cars have 3 built in pneumatic jacks that can jack the car up in less than a second during the pit stop.
An F1 car has as many as 8 radios in operation at a time.
Leasing Used Cars And Luxury Cars
As with new car-leasing, your price research should focus on the key figures that are the initial market value and the estimated residual value of the used car. This is harder to predict since there is no factory-set sticker price on used cars, and the residual percentage is very much pegged to a subjective current retail value.
Use different sources to get a rough idea of the value of the used car: your local dealerships, internet car-evaluating tools, such as Edmunds.com and Cars.com, to name but a few. Another way to pin down a good estimate is to compare the lease on your given car to a lease on a new-car with the same make and model.
This should give you a better picture of the difference between leasing new and going
for used. Just like leasing a new car, used vehicle leasing is more attractive when residual values depreciate the least. You stand a better chance of finding a bargain in the high-end, luxury vehicles that keep their values better as used cars.
Next, you need to check the initial mileage and the overall vehicle condition. The maximum mileage on a used car should be no more than 12,000 miles a year. A 3-years old car with 50,000 miles on the clock is very unlikely to make a good used-vehicle lease.
Check for signs of excessive use, like worn seat fabric, worn pedal pads and dirty engine, which might indicate that the odometer has been rolled back. If the car is not certified, you need to get it thoroughly inspected. Ask your dealer for a manufacturer-sponsored certification program or have your car certified by a qualified mechanic or inspection service.
Most used-car deals don’t come with gap coverage. This is a special type of coverage, normally offered on a new auto-lease, to cover the consumer if the leased vehicle is lost, stolen or damaged. Typically, auto-insurance policies cover only what your car is worth at the time of loss, not what you still owe on the lease. The difference could run into thousands of dollars. For peace of mind, do not enter into any used-car lease without
gap-coverage. Arrange it separately with either the lease dealer or your auto-insurance company.
Luxury Cars and Resale Values
When it comes to ultra-luxury, high-end vehicle leasing, there is no doubt that the best deals are those cars that hold their value. With this in mind, we single out a few truths about residual values that consistently apply to high-end leasing.
The most determining factor when it comes to resale values is public perception of the brand, not its reliability ratings in quality surveys.
Take the Jaguar for example: it is consistently rated as a quality car, but
because of questionable reliability perception among the public, it takes a sharp dip in value at the end of its lease-term
Higher-tech options and other cutting-edge features do not necessarily mean the car will fare better. By the time your car is two years old, better and cheaper systems will render the laser-guided cruise control, navigation systems and built-in cell phone obsolete.
Look for functional features, such as automatic transmissions, power windows and wheel-drive to enhance the vehicle’s value in the used-car market.
Used-car buyers view less favorably luxury vehicles that come with big incentives. These are perceived as questionable in quality and reliability.
Choosing Car by Sign of Zodiac
Aries
Most of aries are like speeding.Car for aries is passion, adventure and freedom. It’s best to choose red colored “Ferrari” or other powerful sports car. By the way, this sign metal is iron (ferrum). Aries trying to take the lead in every thing.
Taurus
What about “Buick”? It is excellent, reliable car. It will help to done casual tasks. Taurus from European chooses safe, reliable makes, for example “SAAB”. Taurus very often wash their cars, hates every little scratches. Choosing car can be very hard, because Taurus want to choose really good car. Moreover, it doesn’t matter what Tauros bough, he wil use car for shopping or relocation.
Gemini
Geminis almost always listen music. It must be high quality, loudly and fresh. They changes car quite often, sometimes have more than one. Surprisingly, geminis hate hand brake and don’t use it.
Cancer
Cancers are fairly quiet drivers. They are antonym with Aries. Cancers love old school and retro classic cars. Also, they are very clean and likes safety. One of the most recommended car for cancers – “Chrysler”.
Leo
Leos are romantics. Very popular car is “Alfa-Romeo”. Richer leo chooses “Jaguar” or “Cadillac”. By the way, the longer car the better.
Virgo
Virgos oftne good know and respect traffic rules and take care of the technical condition. The best car for virgo is electric car which has zero CO2. If no – it’s recommended to buy “Nissan” or “Toyota”.
Libra
People born under libra sign like elite cars, such as “Mercedes-Benz” or “Lincoln”. One of the most important thing air conditioning and GPS.
Scorpio
Scorpios like fast cars with lot of PS. For example, “Porshe” or “BMW”. Scorpios are quite dangerous drivers and likes adrenaline.
Sagittarius
The car should fit their social situation. It must be not too bad and not too small. “Volvo” is very popular car between sagittarius. If their social situation is not o good – they choose “Fiat”.
Capricorn
Likes usual cars, such as “Volkswagen”. Capricorns are demanding and practical. So the car should be confortable and stable. Good choice is SUV (for example “Jeep”).
Aquarius
It’s better to buy motorcycle, but if they need car it should be convertible. Aquarius like cars with lot of “toys”: GPS, computer, air-conditioning etc.
Pisces
Ideal car – “Bentley”, but it is too expensive. They like unusally cars, comfortable with nice (sometimes strange) color. It’s good to choose French car (“Citroen”, “Peugeot”)
Air Cooler Price in India (Bajaj Kenstar Symphony Usha Lexus Dolphin Vibrant Cooler Fan Breeze)
Air cooler prices in India from naaptol.com (Indian online store, advertises often in TOI):
Air cooler Price (in Indian Rupees)
Usha Lexus PC2214APersonal Cooler, Cooler 3,200
Mc Coy PC 702, Cooler 3,200
Birla Lifestyle Icy Tower, Cooler 3,495
Kenstar Little 434, Cooler 3,700
Bajaj PC 2005, Cooler 3,700
Symphony DiET 8T, Cooler 3,850
Symphony Ninja, Cooler 3,902
Kenstar Little Cooler DxCP0118H, Cooler 3,990
Symphony Kaizen Jr, Cooler 4,290
Bajaj Coolest PC 2000, Cooler 4,290
Symphony Surround, Cooler 4,490
Kenstar Vibrant CT 9924, Cooler 4,590
Bajaj TC 2003, Cooler 4,600
Symphony Hycool, Cooler 4,667
Bajaj PC 2000 DLX, Cooler 4,690
Bajaj COOLEST SB2003, Cooler 4,990
Symphony Jumbo Jr, Cooler 4,990
Birla Lifestyle Mist Little, Cooler 4,995
Bajaj TC 2008, Cooler 5,590
Symphony Sumo Junior, Cooler 5,600
Birla Lifestyle Chilly Tower, Cooler 5,750
Usha Super Breeze PC2540A, Cooler 5,750
Bajaj Coolest MD 2000, Cooler 5,790
Kenstar Slimline, Cooler 5,890
Usha Lexus Sameer Jr, Cooler 5,899
Symphony Kaizen, Cooler 5,990
Kenstar SMART COOL SD 0434, Cooler 6,000
Kenstar Climatizer – KCM40V1W-CFR, Cooler 8,000
Kenstar Turbocool DX 9704 C, Cooler 8,190
Bajaj Coolest RC 2004 T Rotochill, Cooler 8,390
Kenstar Cyclone Super CD 2008, Cooler 8,690
Usha Ajeet Double Blower RC1650A, Cooler 8,790
Usha New Cllasic Max DC2755A, Cooler 9,100
Usha Attlantic DC2560A, Cooler 9,390
Usha Atlantic Surround DC2660A, Cooler 9,490
Kenstar Slim Line SD 0434, Cooler 7,190
Bajaj RC 2004, Cooler 7,370
Bajaj Coolest DC 2000, Cooler 7,490
Bajaj Coolest DB 2000, Cooler 7,690
Usha Lexus Sameer, Cooler 7,699
Symphony Winter, Cooler 7,800
Kenstar Climatizer Classic – KCA40G1W-CDZ, Cooler 7,850
Bajaj Coolest RC 2004 Rotochill, Cooler 7,990
Bajaj DC 2009 Sleeq, Cooler 7,990
Usha Dolphin Cooler PC2524A, Cooler 6,050
Kenstar Vibrant KCB18W3H-CFR Remote, Cooler 6,190
Symphony DiET 50T, Cooler 6,400
Birla Lifestyle AC-20L-03, Cooler 6,495
Kenstar TURBOCOOL 9704, Cooler 6,500
Symphony Jumbo, Cooler 6,690
Kenstar Cyclone, Cooler 6,890
Symphony Sumogo, Cooler 7,006
Bajaj DC 2004, Cooler 7,070
Air cooler prices from ebay.in (eBay India) (used or new):
Air cooler Price (in Indian Rupees)
4in1 battery fan emergency light cooler ty rechargeable, Summer POWER CUT solution! FREE 200/- swiss knife stars 1,650
Solar ac air conditioner / cooler -save money & nature, use 40% less electricity for you air conditioners !! 65,000
4-in-1 emergency rechargeable cooler fan night light fm 1,640
I have been noticing that some electronic or consumer electronic stores are selling these goods at same price as market price (other electronic stores) but place a higher MRP tag and an offer price tag showing a discount. It helps to check several stores to get a good idea of current prices in the market before deciding to buy. It applies to online shopping as well.
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The Hybrid Sedan?
Hybrid cars are the rage right now. They are considered very eco-friendly and have all the capabilities of the regular petrol or diesel driven cars. Why should you buy a hybrid sedan rather than a petrol driven one?
One of the first reasons will be the CO2 tax that’s been implemented in several countries. Whenever you purchase a car, you pay an additional fee based on what type of car you are buying and just how much it impacts the planet in its natural running. A hybrid sedan will probably cost less in CO2 tax since it produces less pollutants than the usual regular petrol driven car. This means you can save money on the initial purchase of the automobile.
The hybrid sedan also saves on running costs. This especially relevant in an economic system where unrest in places like the middle east is causing petrol prices to skyrocket. A hybrid sedan would use a combination of fuel as well as other natural fuels. This means that it’s going to use less petrol than the usual regular sedan and the other fuels that it uses tend to be cheaper than petrol.
Now, one of the things that puts individuals off purchasing a hybrid sedan is the misconception that they’re toy cars. This is not true. They are every bit as good as normal petrol driven cars. Their performance is similar to a petrol driven sedan with similar specs. The only difference is that they do not run solely on fuel.
The cars that do have performance issues are the electric cars. They have a tendency to be very sluggish and run out of power quickly. This isn’t the truth with hybrid cars. They’ll run further with a tank of fuel than a regular car simply because they use less petrol per kilometre than the usual regular petrol powered vehicle. Unlike electric cars, you don’t need to recharge the automobile every few kilometres and you’ll get far better performance out of a hybrid sedan than out of an electrical car.
The only issue is that not all nations have fuel available which hybrid cars need. This does limit them quite a bit for all those countries. It will eventually catch on, but for now everybody else needs to be patient while their country’s governments manage to get their acts together and begin to provide for the car of the future.
As technology improves, hybrid cars will become steadily more popular. Especially if the petrol prices carry on up with the rate they have been. If you are purchasing a new car, consider purchasing hybrid sedan very seriously. Before you decide to commit, first ensure that you are able to get the fuel you require for the hybrid sedan. You can save a lot of money on fuel and also on the CO2 tax that has become very popular with most countries. You’re able to do your part in preserving the planet through getting a hybrid sedan instead of a petrol driven one whenever you next buy a new car.
Dollar Saving Tips on Your Next Car Rental
One of the biggest vacation expenses is a rental car. Below are a few suggestions on how you can save money on your next rental car.
If you are flying to your vacation destination and have booked the flight either online or through a travel agency, you can more than likely get a discount on your rental car if you book it as part of the package. The majority of car rental companies collaborate with at least one airline to provide frequent flyer miles or other types of rewards when you rent a car. In addition, many airlines offer incentive and bonus programs where you get extra miles or extra credit, so be sure to inquire about these programs when making your reservation.
When choosing your rental car, a compact or subcompact economy car is usually less expensive than a full size sedan or minivan. Therefore, selecting an economy will not only be less expensive, but you will also get better gas mileage thus saving on gas expenses.
If you need a large sedan, SUV or minivan for the comfort of your family, it is well worth your time to shop around. There is usually a high demand for these types of vehicles and therefore a larger price tag. Travel related web sites are a good place to start your research to familiarize yourself with the average price in your vacation area.
The duration of the rental will have an influence on the cost as well. Weekly rentals are usually far less costly than a daily rate spread over a week. Therefore, if your vacation plans are for a week or more, be sure to inquire about special rates. If you are taking a weekend vacation, many companies offer weekend specials on certain makes and models of their cars.
In addition, a number of national car companies and local smaller companies rent their used cars for much less than a new car from a rental agency. In most instances, these cars are only a few years old and provide the same protection as a new car.
For the business traveler, joining a frequent renter club, or using the same rental car company each time, is a great way to get some special coupons and some very good deals that you could use for the family vacation.
Most people purchase car insurance from the rental agency. Usually, this is not necessary. If you have purchased your rental car on your credit car, you may already have coverage as part of your credit card plan. In addition, as an automobile owner, you car insurance may provide coverage for rental cars. Therefore, it is necessary for you to check your credit card plan and automobile insurance, if you are covered, then purchasing insurance from the rental car agency is not necessary.
Understanding Hybrid Cars
Lots of drivers are getting to acquire hybrid cars. What is it that makes hybrids that’s pulling in more and more consumers to buy them?
First of all, if you’re fortunate enough to be a hybrid owner, you’ll see a significant savings on fuel. Gas prices are on a constant rise and will not fall at all. When compared to conventional cars, hybrids need roughly have as much gas to go the same distance. That means less stops at the pump.
The government has even started to try and promote an increase in ownership among taxpayers. Back in 2005, the President signed a bill providing considerable tax breaks to anyone buying a hybrid vehicle.
Some cities and states even offer hybrid owners breaks on parking and tolls as well!
You can breathe easier owning a hybrid car of course. Using a combination of an electric motor and gasoline engine, hybrids pollute lesser than conventional cars.
By having two types of power working together, gasoline and electric, a hybrid car can not just hit and maintain fast speeds in no time flat without as much output, it also requires less energy in stop and go traffic scenarios. The hybrid fuel cell vehicle was created due to the result of the demand and clamor to clean the environment from pollutions and for the need to rely less on fuel.
Don’t forget that it’s not necessary to charge the hybrid vehicle through an electrical outlet. Hybrid cars actually charge themselves via the gasoline engine and other creative workarounds.
You can also expect a better ROI with a hybrid. Hybrid vehicles by nature also tends to hold its value longer. Those wanting to sell or trade a hybrid can be sure that you will get more of what you paid for it. A sticky points for many consumers is the higher than average price tag when compared to similar cars in its class. Still, the hybrid car can counter this disadvantage by allowing consumers to save money in a long term basis in fuel costs.